The “politically charged environment” in the province over electricity keeps Hydro Ottawa bosses up at night, according to the company’s chairman.

Jim Durrell, making the utility’s annual presentation to city council, said the political climate in Ontario could create volatility in providing the hydro service.

Durrell warned against any political plan that “sells short-term votes” when the long-term pain could be “substantial” for hydro companies.

The next provincial election is in June 2018.

Hydro Ottawa’s presentation at council was the annual shareholder meeting. The City of Ottawa is Hydro Ottawa’s sole shareholder.

In its annual report, the utility says its customer satisfaction rate took a hit in 2016, likely because of the Ontario-wide discussion about hydro prices. The satisfaction rate was 81 per cent last year, compared to 87 per cent in 2015.

Hydro Ottawa has hired a “chief customer officer,” beefed up its hours in the contact centre and increased its social media use. The utility also released a smartphone app this year.

Hydro Ottawa had a big year financially. It ended 2016 with $34.8 million in net income.

After crunching the numbers, Hydro Ottawa sent the city a $20.6-million dividend in April 2017, the highest dividend the city has ever received from its hydro asset. The dividend comes from the revenue on the utility’s capital investments, not the regulated rates on electricity bills.

Durrell said the utility’s LED streetlight project in Ottawa has been successful and it wants to offer the service to other municipalities. That would generate revenue for the utility, he said.

Council reappointed Durrell, the former mayor, as chair of Hydro Ottawa’s two boards of directors, Hydro Ottawa Holding Inc. (the umbrella company) and Hydro Ottawa Ltd. (the distribution company). Council also appointed Cyril Leeder, the former president of the Ottawa Senators, to the boards for three years.

Hydro Ottawa distributes electricity to about 328,000 customers in Ottawa and Casselman.

The city wants to install an $18-million stormwater pond on NCC land near Baseline Road and Woodroffe Avenue. Julie Oliver/PostmediaJulie Oliver /
Ottawa Citizen

Council approved the concept for the $18-million pond near the northeast corner of Baseline Road and Woodroffe Avenue. The pond will be built on green space owned by the National Capital Commission.

The city needs the pond to eventually commission the Baseline LRT station at Algonquin College. The pond would capture runoff from the station and the surrounding community before slowly releasing the water into Pinecrest Creek.

The pond originally came out of the Ottawa River Action Plan to improve the health of the river.

Some residents don’t like the pond concept since they have enjoyed the open green space for years.

Construction will be part of the Stage 2 LRT contract.

College Coun. Rick Chiarelli voted against the pond plan.

New forest management plan will protect and increase urban trees

The City of Ottawa has a new approach to take care of the urban tree canopy.

Council endorsed an urban forest management plan, which was one of the strategic initiatives for this term.

There is an increasing awareness about the city’s trees as more are destroyed by the emerald ash borer.

The 20-year plan, which is broken down into five four-year programs starting in 2018, makes sure the city is tracking the status of trees, protecting trees and prioritizing plantings. The city wants its trees to be considered a critical infrastructure asset.

There are 26 recommendations the city wants to adapt over the 20-year plan to protect existing trees and enhance the canopy within the urban boundary.

Ecology Ottawa believes the plan could be a “game-changer” in tree protection and community engagement on planting programs. The organization has a petition with more than 11,000 names of people who want a strong forest management strategy.

Mayor Jim Watson is especially interested in fining people who cut down mature trees without the city’s permission.

Transfer approved for forgotten LRT training money

OC Transpo can transfer $4.8 million to an LRT account to teach staff how to drive and control electrified trains, council decided.

Transpo overlooked the training costs during budgeting and needed to find the money as soon as possible. Training is scheduled to begin this summer.

A bus refurbishment account will be tapped for the funds. There’s money available since Transpo is retiring its fleet of hybrid buses in 2018, decreasing the need for maintenance cash.

About 100 workers will be learning how to operate the Confederation Line right through until the LRT line opens in 2018. Since the staff will be training full time, Transpo needs to backfill their bus work, resulting in added costs.

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